Story
Mita Akari is a super housewife who performs whatever work she has been asked to do to perfection. However, she does not smile or flatter, and always has an expressionless face. Mita has been sent to the Asuda family. Nagiko, the wife of Keiichi, who is the head of the family, had just passed away in an accident. Her death has given their four children, Yui, Kakeru, Kaito and Kii a huge shock and the family splinters. The inside of the house is also in wild disorder. Mita tidies it up such that it is beyond recognition. If cockroaches run out, she would catch them and toss them out the window. She reels off the answers to arithmetic questions that stump Kaito, and is good at cooking too. Her performance on the job is a surprise to the Asudas. Meanwhile, Nagiko’s younger sister, Urara, visits the Asuda household and proposes holding a birthday party for Kii two days later. Kii’s response when asked what she would like as a present is “to meet mum.” Urara agrees to let her meet her mother. The next day, when Mita picks Kii up at her kindergarten, her friends have made her cry and caused an uproar. As they pass the river where Nagiko drowned on the way back home, Kii asks Mita to go with her to meet her mother. Mita takes some action in response to these words … …

CharactersMatsushima Nanako as Mita AkariA super domestic helper who does housework such as cooking and washing to perfection. However, she does not smile or fawn on others, is always emotionless and her expressions cannot be read at all. She does whatever work she is tasked with in the same way. At times, that surprises the people around her and the parties concerned have to look reality in the face.

Hasegawa Hiroki as Asuda KeiichiThe head of the sales division with Sawai Homes, a home builder. He had a “shotgun” marriage with Yuki Nagiko, who is two years his senior. She bore him four children – Yui, Kakeru, Kaito and Kii – but he has little consideration as a father, and feels suffocated when he is with his family. The times when he feels relaxed are when he is in the toilet or car.

Aibu Saki as Yuki UraraThe younger sister of Asuda Keiichi’s wife, Nagiko and a physical education teacher at the high school that Keiichi’s eldest daughter, Yui, attends. She has a cheerful nature, but the things she does always backfires on her because she cannot read situations. Keiichi’s children annoy her by saying, “It’s no good to have Urara come.”

Hiraizumi Sei as Yuki ToshiyukiThe father of Asuda Keiichi’s wife, Nagiko. A former school principal. He has detested Keiichi since the start of the marriage and believes that Keiichi is to blame for his daughter’s death.

Shirakawa Yumi as Harumi AkemiThe head of Akemi Domestic Help Agency. She understands Mita Akari well, and worries about her emotionally numb state.

Kutsuna Shiori as Asuda YuiAsuda Keiichi’s eldest daughter. A second year high school student who belongs to the photography club. Her mother’s death came as a shock to her and she cannot put her heart and soul in photography. Because she hates home, she wishes to get out of it as soon as possible. She thinks that she does not have to pull herself together at home, but gets irritated when things go wrong.

Matsushima Nanako’s stoic housekeeper role in Nihon Television’s ’Kaseifu no Mita‘ has been garnering a lot of attention.

The anticipated final episode aired on December 21st, and managed to draw in a whopping figure of 40% in viewership ratings within the Kanto region. It also received an average of 36.4% in the Kansai region and 34.6% in the Nagoya region, making it the first time in nearly 12 years that a drama has surpassed the 40% mark.

With these ratings, ‘Kaseifu no Mita’ is tied for 3rd as the drama with the highest ratings of all time. The top three dramas in this regard are ‘Tsumikikuzushi Oya to Ko no 200-nichi Senso‘ (TBS 1983) with 45.3%,’Beautiful Life‘ (TBS 2000) with 41.3%, and ‘Netchu Jidai‘ (1979 NihonTV) with 40.0%. ‘Kaseifu no Mita’ has tied with third place, surpassing the TBS drama ‘3 nen B gumi Kinpachi Sensei‘ (39.9%).

According to media research, this is the first time since 2000 that a drama has exceeded the 40% viewership rating. The last time a drama achieved this rating was when TBS aired the final episode of ‘Beautiful Life‘ back in March of 2000.
To get an idea of how far ‘Kaseifu no Mita’ has come, the series began with an average first episode rating of 19.5%. It continued to improve as the series progressed, leading up to the final episode.

Although the final episode received an average of 40%, the final scene gained the highest viewership rating, with 42.8% in the Kanto region, 39.0% in the Kansai region, and 36.7% in the Nagoya region. This was during the final moments of the drama where Mita, played by Matsushima, bids farewell to the family that she served.

As a whole, the drama received an impressive average rating of 25.17%.

Despite being in an era where people are watching less television, the drama turned out to be a blockbuster hit. Nowadays, a drama with 15% or more viewership ratings is considered to a hit, and a drama exceeding 20% is considered to be a huge hit.

Currently there are no plans for a sequel or a movie adaptation, but fans are already pleading for more Mita-san. For those that can’t get enough of ‘Kaseifu no Mita’, the DVD and Blu-ray box sets are scheduled to be released on April 18, 2012.